It was lunchtime on a hot August day in Waikiki and I was surrounded by a group of young longboarders—about a dozen or so teenagers with sun-bleached hair—at a mercifully-air-conditioned, if not particularly noteworthy otherwise, California Pizza Kitchen. Our long booth was covered in half-eaten pasta and sugary drinks that only an adolescent metabolism could possibly make sense of. Various conversations clashed across the table until a shout from the far end grabbed everyone’s attention.
“Oh my god, is that Justin Bieber?”
As a matter of fact, it was. The Beebs was waving at us, quite surreally, through the screen of Kelia Moniz’ iPhone.
Moniz—who is easily one of the most graceful and renowned longboarders from the south shore of Oahu, and an unofficial “auntie” to this group of kids—had FaceTimed her husband, a famous fashion photographer and apparently a close friend of Bieber’s. When the phone conversation ended about 40 seconds later, a squeal broke loose, springing from the 15-year-old girl sitting next to Moniz. “Oh my gosh,” she said. “I used to have a poster of him on my wall!” Moniz looked at me and laughed.
This story is from the Volume 60, Issue 4 edition of Surfer.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Volume 60, Issue 4 edition of Surfer.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
60 Years Ahead
We had a whole plan for this year. Funny, right? Surfer's 60 year anniversary volume was going to be filled with stories nodding to SURFER’s past, with cover concepts paying homage to the magazine’s most iconic imagery. Our new Page One depicts something that’s never happened in surfing before, let alone on a prior SURFER cover. And our table of contents was completely scrapped and replaced as we reacted to the fizzing, sparking, roiling world around us. In other words, 2020 happened to SURFER, just like it happened to you.
For Generations to Come
Rockaway’s Lou Harris is spreading the stoke to Black youth and leading surfers in paddling out for racial justice
END TIMES FOR PRO SURFING
By the time the pandemic is done reshaping the world, will the World Tour still have a place in it?
CHANGING OF THE GUARD
After decades of exclusive access to Hollister Ranch, the most coveted stretch of California coast is finally going public
Shane Dorian, 47
Father, hunter, one of the best ever in waves 2-feet to 60. Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
When Surfing Isn't Enough
Surfing seems like it should be a salve for mental health problems, so what happens when it isn’t?
The Kids Of Queens
In the birthplace of modern surfing, a young crop of Waikiki surfers who call themselves “The Grom Squad” are redefining Hawaiian style and taking the longboarding world by storm
Wisdom - Peter Schroff, 65
Shaper, artist, philosopher San Pedro, California
A Podcast for Shred Heads, Wax Heads, Kooks and Barnies
Ain’t That Swell co-hosts Jed Smith and Vaughan Blakey discuss their wildly funny and utterly Australian audio episodic
The (Un)Official Forecast
Five left-field predictions about the future of wave riding